Agricultural heartland of Portugal
Legend has it the name Alentejo came into being when the King of Portugal, Manuel I gifted the intrepid Portuguese explorer, Vasco Da Gama with 'all the lands beyond the Tejo'. Alem – beyond and Tejo being the river Tagus. Whilst, the derivation of the name is correct, the rest, as the saying goes, “one shouldn't let the truth get in the way of a good story”.
Manuel I did in fact gift Da Gama some territories, firstly, the Alentejo town of Sines, which, it turned out was not his to gift. Eventually, after years of unsuccessfully trying to claim his purse, Da Gama appealed to the king and was made a count, gifting him the villages of Vidigueira and Vila da Frades.
Vidigueira is a small town, practically a village, that even today has a big reputation. Ask any Portuguese person what comes to mind when they are asked about Alentejo it wouldn't be its connection with Vasco Da Gama, invariably it will be wine.
Less than an hours drive north from landing at Faro airport you enter the agricultural heartland of Portugal. As you head north towards the cities of Beja and the world heritage site that is Evora you pass vineyard after vineyard, interspersed with farmland dotted with cork trees, and the occasional farmhouse (Quinta).
Vidigueira lies partway between Beja and Evora and its grand reputation comes in part from its association with Da Gama, the locally produced wine bears his name, but also from the status it now holds within the Portuguese wine industry. Its proximity to a disproportionate number of world-class wine producers elevates the status of this sleepy little town.
One such wine-producer is Quetzal, whose base of operations sits on the outskirts of Vila Da Frades, the neighbouring village to Vidigueira. Quetzal is a firm fixture on what is known as the 'Rotas Das Vinhos', a tour of the vineyards and wine producers of this area of Alentejo. Quetzal is not only a world-class wine producer offering tours and providing fine dining but also boasts an art gallery that houses a privately owned modern art collection of some repute.
